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Trading 212 has won permission to sell personal pensions to UK retail investors more than five years after first announcing the move, during which time customers have vented their frustration and the investment platform has come under regulatory scrutiny.
The UK regulator granted permission to sell self-invested personal pensions, or Sipps, to Trading 212 in February, according to its entry in the Financial Services Register.
Although the company is yet to make an announcement, the Financial Conduct Authority’s approval marks a significant step towards launching the product in the UK. Some £600bn in assets are estimated to be held in Sipps in the UK by about 6.5mn customers.
The regulator’s nod will also allow Trading 212 to offer cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes to pension holders, as providers including AJ Bell and Interactive Investor already do.
The FT previously reported that Trading 212 had sold these crypto-linked debt securities to retail investors for several months in their Isas without the required permission and only sought approval after being contacted by its FCA supervisors.
The company, which calls itself the UK’s number-one investment platform in advertising on social media and public transport, has faced persistent customer complaints about the delay in launching Sipps.
Trading 212 customers have described the delay as “unacceptable” and accused it of “missing the train” as rival platforms such as Freetrade and InvestEngine began offering pensions.
A verified Trading 212 staff member said on the platform’s community forum in 2020, where much corporate information is passed on to customers, that it would offer Sipps in the first quarter of 2021.
One forum user said last year: “Five years later and my retirement plans are ageing faster than Trading 212’s SIPP development.” Another customer added: “Hopefully happens before I retire in 2070.”
Other users have commented about how they had given up waiting for Trading 212 to launch its Sipp and opted for alternative providers.
In 2024, Trading 212 hired several Sipp specialists to develop the product, including employees from Vanguard and Freetrade, and poached a head of Sipp operations from Fidelity.
Tradeinformer reported last November that Trading 212 had then been seeking FCA approval for 18 months.
Co-founded by Bulgarians Ivan Ashminov and Borislav Nedialkov in 2004, Trading 212 received its FCA licence in 2014. It has disrupted the market with zero-commission trading and aggressive marketing but has also faced regulatory scrutiny.
In 2021, the platform halted onboarding of new customers for more than a year as it grew rapidly amid the meme-stock craze.
Trading 212 did not respond to a request for comment. The FCA said it did not discuss individual companies.